How to use social media as a creative is something I’ve struggled with since I started taking my photography seriously. It’s been very much of a love/hate relationship. Social media is essential for creatives, but I feel like it’s been something that I have just not been able to make click for me.
Facebook was the first foray into social media for my photography. When I first started using it for my photography, I created a page for it. It started off ok. I used to post many of my photos there and I had a pretty decent following and interactions. I soon learned that many people didn’t enjoy the photos I liked taking the most and pivoted to create seperate pages for those (I still do them, but I rarely post/share). At some point, Facebook change the algorithms for their pages. Images views dropped like a rock. I got very few new members. Interactions (likes/comments) essentially evaporated. That is when Facebook started sending me messages that I could PAY to get more views from my page SUBSCRIBERS!!! Sorry, but that is complete B.S. I took a poll and 90% of my page subscribers NEVER saw anything I posted. I decided to transition to a group instead. This started doing well and I believe I actually had more members than I did on my page. I encourages members to participate in photo challenges and it was fun. At some point, Facebook again nerfed the algorithm so that I suddenly started to have very few views and interactions. I grew extremely frustrated with Facebook and ended up shutting everything down. The only presence I have there now is if I post anything on my personal page.
Next is Vero. This was supposed to be the next great social media hub for creatives. I really loved the format and user interface. It was my favorite social media platform I’ve used to date. Unfortunately, it never caught on with, well, pretty much anyone. Another fail.
Instagram has probably been my most consistent platform to use. Although I have somewhat recently scrubbed it and restarted it, it’s what I’ve put the most time and effort into. I currently have my main page as well as seperate ones for my surf photography and aviation photography. I don’t use the latter two much, but I have a lot of backlogged images for those two. Instagram, however, has been a source of frustration as well. I realize it’s not supposed to be about the likes or followers, but it’s a little about the likes or followers. You can’t build a brand or reputation without either. Getting new followers has been a struggle. I’ve been stuck at around 350 for about the last year. In February or March, I decided to make it a goal to get to 500. I’m still at the same number. I see other photographer’s page who I believe have vastly inferior content who have 3-5 times the number of followers that I do. For the life of me, I have no idea how to get more followers and get my content in front of new eyes. I use quite a number of hashtags, way more than I care to, and I get a couple new followers with every few posts. I usually lose a few as well which I why the numbers stay stagnant. I am really at a loss here, but I guess I’ll keep trudging along.
Finally, we have Twitter. Earlier this year, I really made and effort to create and maintain a Twitter page for my photography. In many podcasts, I’ve heard this has been a great place for photographers. I have not found that to be the case. I rarely use it now.
So there we have it. I really don’t know where to go withy this, so if anyone has any suggestions, feel free to give me suggestions.